Mayawati furious with Mulayam's 'vulgar language', lodges complaint

Are India's male politicians and ministers using abusive and vulgar language against their female counterparts?

Yes, if the complaints filed by women politicians before the apex National Commission for Women are any indication.

One of the complainants is Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary Mayawati. Demanding action against Union Defence Minister and Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav, Mayawati wrote to NCW chairperson Mohini Giri, "Yadav has used vituperative and offensive language against me in public."

Mayawati's letters to President Shankar Dayal Sharma and Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral accompanied the complaint. The letters said that, being the UP chief minister, it would not be proper for her to even repeat the language used by the defence minister at a meeting in Bareilly on June 6.

Referring to Mayawati's allegation that he attempted to rape her, Yadav reportedly said, "Is she so beautiful that anyone should want to rape her?"

Mayawati has taken strong objection to this statement. ''Does Yadav's statement imply that all beautiful women are inviting rape?'' she wrote in the letters.

Even the NCW seems to be perturbed by Yadav's ''foul language''. Disclosing that this was not an isolated incident, the commission said, "We are getting a number of such complaints. Spitting venom and using insulting language against women has become a novelty," said Giri.

A few complaints are also pending against the new Janata Dal president Sharad Yadav who has been opposing the women's reservation bill tooth and nail. He allegedly referred to city-bred modern women as "baal kati aurat", adding that women with short hair do not know the pulse of rural Indian women.

"Abusing women in public is a real violation of their rights," the NCW chairperson told Rediff On The Net. "We are planning to enact a law barring ministers and politicians holding public offices from making such derogatory remarks about the looks and appearance of women."

The NCW, which was set up in 1992 to examine such rights violations besides atrocities against women, believes that political compulsions and dignity of office may force the prime minister and the President to ignore Mayawati's complaint.

However, the NCW has already written back to the UP chief minister assuring that it will look into the complaint. The apex body is now collecting evidence and trying to get five persons who could corroborate Mayawati's allegations.